Watching Her Leave Was Never Going To Be Easy
by GABGM
Summary: Shawn's perspective of Maya and Josh as the years go by. Sweet short fic about Shawn watching his only daughter grow up. Rated T for one F bomb and the mention of alcohol. Joshaya


**Disclaimer: I don't on Girl Meets World or any of the characters unfortunately. I also haven't written in a long time and make no promises that this will be good. please leave a review.**

The first time Shawn Hunter met his future step daughter he had been so preoccupied with RIley, Cory and the general chaos that usually comes with Christmas, that he had paid no mind to her interactions with the youngest Mathews brother. It really hadn't even occurred to him that there could be something between them until Katy brought it up before the wedding. They were smoothing out the final details of their big day over dinner when Katy made a comment in a tone that was far too casual given the stress the idea would later cause him.

"Josh is going to pick up his parents from GrandCentral Station on Thursday and take them straight to the hotel so they'll be able to make it to the ceremony on time" he informed his soon to be wife.

"That's good to hear, I'm sure Maya will be happy" she smirked.

"I'm definitely going to need some more information, that smile is much too troubling"

"You've seen how she acts around him"

"Yes but I didn't realise it was something I needed to be worried about"

"You're really getting into this protective father role aren't you?" she smiled.

"Josh wouldn't dare"

"Wow you really are blind aren't you?"

"What?" he asked raising his brow.

"Just because he isn't as obvious as Maya, doesn't mean he's as subtle as he'd like to think"

"Nope, nope, nope, I refuse to believe it"

"You believe whatever you want. A mother knows"

After that conversation Shawn kept a close eye on Josh, but their interactions seemed completely normal. Other than the times josh pulled out her chair for meals or held the door for her nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. Josh was raised well he did that for Maya just like he would for anyone, we was a Mathews after all. It wasn't until they were actually at the wedding that he noticed. During the ceremony he was too busy looking at his beautiful wife to be distracted by anything else, but when Katy excused herself at the reception to touch up her makeup he saw it. Maya was on the dance floor with Auggie dancing on her feet, Josh was standing by the bar with just about the stupidest smile imaginable on his face as he watched them.

"You'll never lose that feeling you know" he turned and saw Amy smiling at him.

"What's that?"

"Parental concern" she smirked "I must say it's a good look for you"

"Well it doesn't feel good"

"It doesn't stop but it does get easier"

"So does that mean you're nervous too?"

"No because I already had to deal with Cory and Topanga and there's no way it could get any worse than that"

"I'm not happy about this"

"It doesn't matter whether you're happy or not, what matters is if she's happy" and with that she left him with his thoughts.

Life went on after the wedding, they moved into a new loft, he took a job at a local magazine to be closer to his new family and for once life seemed to be going well for the three of them. Maya started her sophomore year, her grades started to improve and Katy had started taking on more and more responsibilities at the café. The next big family gathering wasn't until Thanksgiving and as luck would have it they would be celebrating in Philly this year. Josh greeted them at the door and he didn't miss the smirk that was shared between the two. The holiday passed without much fuss and a lot of delicious food. He had actually forgotten about his daughter's pseudo relationship with Josh until he went down to the kitchen for a glass of water in the middle of the night, well he tried to but stopped on the stairs when he heard Morgan and Josh talking in hushed tones. As much as Cory would like to believe otherwise, Morgan was a lot closer to Josh than any of his other siblings. Probably because they had actually lived in the same house.

"I don't know Morgan, it's getting really hard" he heard the younger sibling whisper "I don't know what to do anymore, I've tried seeing other girls but nothing's worked"

"Wow, you're so fucked"

"Nice, that's great advice Morgs. Thanks."

"What do you want me to say? Shawn's going to kill you, that's if Cory doesn't get there first"

"They're not going to kill me because I'm not going to do anything about it"

"Josh, you're already doing something about it. It's not like you're discouraging the flirting, in fact you're actively flirting back in front of our whole family"

"Well just because I can't be with her doesn't mean I can't have a little fun" he chuckled.

"Why can't you be with her though? She's sixteen Josh, it's not like you're a forty year old man, you're only nineteen"

"She should enjoy her life Morgan not be tied down at sixteen"

"Hey it worked for Cory"

"Yeah well that's not the life I want"

It was in that moment that Shawn realised that maybe this situation wasn't so bad when he really thought about it. Josh was a good kid, he'd known him all his life and he knew that he would never do anything to intentionally hurt Maya. So he decided to take a step back, that didn't mean however that he was going to stop watching them, she was his only daughter after all. He wouldn't catch their next interaction for a while albeit just like at Thanksgiving, Shawn found himself eavesdropping on a private conversation. Maya had gone to bed that night at ten which was why he was not surprised to hear her sneaking into her bedroom through the fire escape at one in the morning. He probably should have been angry but hey he was seventeen once and as long as she wasn't getting into serious trouble he would let her think she was rebelling. He may not have been surprised to hear her sneaking in, he was however surprised to hear another voice.

"Shhh do you want us to get caught? I swear gorgeous you weigh a ton, you owe me big time"

"That's not a very nice thing to say Uncle Boing" she slurred. Okay so she was drunk, again he was seventeen once.

"I'm not your uncle Maya"

"Thank God for small miracles" Shawn could just barely see through the crack of the door that she had leaned up and tried to kiss him.

"Ohhh you're going to owe me so much" he groaned pulling away before she got the chance to place her lips on his.

"What's the Matter Boing? I know you want to kiss me, I'll be eighteen in six months" she whined.

"I want to kiss you when you'll remember it gorgeous, not like this"

"Then why don't you?"

"Because it's not time yet Maya, I want to do it the right way. One day, I'm going to take you on a date and then walk you home and then I'll give you a good night kiss"

"You're a good guy Boing. Thanks for picking me up"

"Yeah, no worries just no more parties without Riles or the gang ok?"

"Promise"

"Ok I'm gonna go before Shawn wakes up and kills me"

"Can you stay until I fall asleep?"

"Ok, but get into bed come on"

When he really thought about it, Shawn was a lucky man. It was never easy for a parent to see their child grow up, but it was a little easier knowing that Maya had given her heart to someone who would go to the end of their earth and back for her. Someone who looked at her like she was the most important thing in the world which was why when they decided to take that step from friends to something more, Shawn was actually happy for them. It was a normal Friday afternoon, Katie was at work and Maya was lounging on the sofa.

"Hey, you look pretty today" he said as he walked through the door "I just talked to Cory about the plans for the party and it looks like everyone will be coming up. Jack is even going to fly in"

"It's only High School graduation" she blushed "It's not that big a deal"

"Are you kidding? My baby girl's going to college. I want my whole family there to see"

"It's NYU, I'll be a ten minute subway ride away"

"Let me spoil you, plus Josh will be there," he smirked.

"About that" she started picking at her sweater. That really should have been his first red flag, Maya was rarely nervous, especially around him "Josh is actually on his way. We're going to dinner"

"Just the two of you?" he raised his brow.

"Yeah, we've sort of been seeing each other, it's only been two weeks" she spat out quickly.

"And that's a bad thing?"

"What no?" her head shot up.

"You don't seem very happy" he chuckled.

"It's just… are you mad?"

"Of course not Maya. if you're happy, then I am too. So are you?"

"I couldn't be happier"

"Good" he smiled but was quickly interrupted by a knock on the door "I'm assuming that's prince charming" he got up to open the door.

"Hey" Josh said hesitantly as he walked towards the living room"do I still get to call you Shawn or do I have to call you Mr hunter now?"

"You can still call me Shawn, but no more jokes about being cooler than me" he joked back.

"Wow" his attention turned to Maya "You look beautiful"

"Thanks" she jumped up, placed a kiss on his cheek and grabbed his hand. "I'll see you later dad" she said as she pulled Josh to the door.

"Have fun you two, but not too much fun"

Everything seemed to sail smoothly after that, their relationship went on with the normal ups and downs. Josh graduated college and went on to med school, Auggie started high school and Allen finally retired but the most exciting change in their lives came in the form of a baby boy. Aiden Allen Hunter was born on the sixteenth of May and the only person happier than Katie or himself was Maya who couldn't believe that at nineteen years of age she was finally getting a younger sibling. After Maya graduated from college, principal Cory was ecstatic to hire her as Abigail Adams new Art teacher and she and Josh moved into their first apartment. After so many years Shawn been present for lots of Josh and Maya's interactions, from the big moments like anniversaries and birthdays to the small intimate kisses and "I love yous". His favourite moment between the two however, came on a normal Sunday afternoon when Shawn, Katie, Maya and Josh had taken a four year old Aiden to the park. So sitting on a bench in the cold October air, Shawn watched as Josh bent down on one knee and Aiden passed him a small box that could only mean one thing. She said yes of course and the family descended on New York for a huge celebration.

"You must be happy right?" his daughter approached him during the party "You and Cory are finally going to be family" she laughed.

"I have been waiting for this for a long time"

"Probably since the day you met him"

"Not that" he chuckled "since you were fifteen I've been watching you drift further and further away from me"

"You're not losing me dad"

"I know, but growing up is a part of life and I always thought it would be really difficult to see you become an adult but it isn't"

"You getting sappy on me Hunter?" she teased

"Don't ruin my moment. It's been really nice watching you get everything you want and deserve Maya"

"Thanks Dad, I love you" she hugged him.

"I love you too"

**It's been a while but decided to give this another shot because there is a serious lack of Joshaya fiction. Not my best, to be honest it felt a little forced but as always please leave a review and let me know what you think.**


End file.
